Student Writing Competition, Hosted at UCLA, on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

UCLA hosts the journal Dukeminier Awards: Best Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law Review Articles. (Many of our lawyer readers have seen Jesse Dukeminier’s work in their property and wills and trusts classes; he was a leading casebook author and scholar in both fields.) The journal mostly reprints articles that it selects from those published in other journals — I had the honor of having one of my articles, Same-Sex Marriage and Slippery Slopes reprinted in the Dukeminier Awards 2006 issue — but it also prints student articles that it selects among those that are submitted directly to it, and throws in a $1000 award to boot. So if you have any articles on the subject that you’d like to submit, please do so; here are the details:

Dukeminier Awards Student Writing Competition ($1,000 cash prize, plus publication)
Submission Deadline: January 2, 2012

The Dukeminier Awards Student Writing Competition annually recognizes the best student note on issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity in the law. The First Place award is $1,000. The winning note will also be published in the Dukeminier Awards: Best Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law Review Articles of 2011. The competition is open to students enrolled in an ABA accredited law school during the 2011-2012 academic year. Students of all backgrounds and identities are encouraged to apply. Entry topics should focus on a cutting-edge legal issue affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender communities.

Prior topics include legal issues involving the intersection of sexual orientation and/or gender identity with the following themes: parenting, racial and ethnic identities, employment, youth, transgender issues, intersex issues, bisexual erasure, marriage, social movements, sports, international comparative law, administrative law, criminal law, constitutional law, and evidence law. We are also interested in submissions covering novel topics, including those that challenge canonical LGBT literature by highlighting the experiences and writing of marginalized people. Past issues and winning notes can be viewed online at http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/dukeminier-awards-journal/.

Submission Requirements
Entries should follow standard note format, including Bluebook (19th edition) citation form. All entries must be submitted in English. Each entry should be no longer than 40 single-sided pages with one-inch margins. The article text should be 12-point, double-spaced Times New Roman font. The page limit includes footnotes, which should be 10-point, single-spaced Times New Roman font. Entries containing endnotes or including appendices or supplemental material will not be considered.

Entrants may choose to submit their note by either email or regular mail. All entries must be received on or before January 2, 2012. Entrants should not include their name or the name of their school on the competition paper itself. Instead, participants should submit a cover page indicating their name, school, address, email address, and phone number. Entries by email should be in Microsoft Word format and sent to josol@lawnet.ucla.edu with the subject line “Writing Competition Submission.” Additional details are attached in PDF format.

Mailed entries should be sent to:

The Dukeminier Awards Writing Competition
The Williams Institute
UCLA School of Law
P.O. Box 951476
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1476

Questions may be sent to the above address or to josol@lawnet.ucla.edu with the subject line “Writing Competition.”

This award is named in memory of Jesse J. Dukeminier (1925-2003), who was a member of the UCLA School of Law faculty for forty years. This writing competition is made possible by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.